In 1780, the Government decided to add a second battalion to the Black Watch and assigned its command to Norman MacLeod, 23rd Chief of MacLeod, then captain of a company he had raised for the 71st. The battalion was embodied at Perth on March 21, 1780. In 1786, while in India, the battalion was saved from disbandment by the exertions of its commander and in fact became an independent corps - the 73rd Regiment. It remained in India until 1805, at which time all fit men who volunteered for other regiments remaining in India received a bounty, and the others returned home. Recruiting brought the regiment back up to 800 men by 1809, and a second battalion was then added. Nevertheless, in March of 1809, the regiment was among those ordered to stop wearing the kilt and it was deprived of its Highland designation. More Highland Regiments Napoleonic Highland Regts: Introduction Napoleonic Highland Regts: 42nd (Black Watch) Napoleonic Highland Regts: 71st (McLeod) Napoleonic Highland Regts: 72nd (Seaforth) Napoleonic Highland Regts: 73rd (Perthshire) Napoleonic Highland Regts: 74th Napoleonic Highland Regts: 75th Napoleonic Highland Regts: 78th (Ross-Shire Buffs) Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 1 No. 48 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1980 by Jean Lochet This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com